Cons:

I know this might not make me very popular with some of the Xbox fans out there, but I have something to confess: I didn't like the first Ghost Recon game. I can appreciate what it had to offer, and I can certainly understand what people saw in it, but it just wasn't the game for me. The combination of choppy graphics, an unwieldy command system, and gameplay that forced you to pixel hunt (as it's called by fellow editor Ben Turner) made for a slow moving and, at times, downright frustrating experience. With that said, I was a bit skeptical when the sequel, cleverly titled Ghost Recon 2, landed on my desk last week. Would it be more of the same, or was I in for a brand new experience?

Thankfully, it turned out to be the latter, and I'm happy to say that it's one of the best Xbox shooters I've played this year. Nearly all of the problems that I had with the first game have been fixed, and the developers at Ubisoft have even added some features that make for a more user-friendly, but somehow deeper, gaming experience. Although some of the series' hardcore fans might be turned off by the changes, it's easy to see that Red Storm tried hard to satify their target audience, in addition to bringing new players into the mix.

The game's storyline is straight-up Tom Clancy, and although it takes place in the year 2011, there are elements that feel like they've been ripped out of today's headlines. A megalomanical, yet oddly charismatic, North Korean general has decided that he doesn't like the way that his superiors have been handling the country's affairs. Taking matters into his own hands, he stages a coup with the help of his disgruntled countrymen, wresting control of the goverment, as well as the nation's sizable nuclear arsenal. With the free world in jeopardy, the Ghost Recon squad is sent in to clean up the mess and save the world. The way the story is presented is very interesting, told via flashbacks and interviews courtesy of a documentary that one might see on the History channel. Before each mission, you'll meet the team that was involved, and they'll tell you about their objectives and the challenges they faced. It pays to listen, as you can pick up some tips that might mean the difference between life and death.

There are a lot of changes in Ghost Recon 2 the biggest of which is the change in perspective. The previous game was played from a tight first-person view, with only a reticle and minimal information, such as health and ammunition, on the screen. It was often too close, offering very little in the way of peripheral vision, and it was tough to know if you were fully protected by any cover you were hiding behind. Thankfully, the developers decided to make this the focus of the gameplay changes, and you can now see your soldier's body, with the camera positioned just behind his shoulder. This dramatically changes the gameplay, allowing you to confidently take cover, peek around corners, and generally see more of the environment around you. You can still zoom in with the left trigger, at which point you'll go into a first person view. The move to third person is a welcome change, but the Ghost Recon purists out there will be happy to know that you can switch to the original first-person view by pausing the game.

Another major upgrade is in the game's command system. In the last game, you were forced to bring up a map, set points for your men to travel to, then tell each individual soldier what to do when they go to that point. It was cumbersome and annoying, but the worst part was having to take yourself out of the action to set everything up. It really hurt the flow of the game, and it made giving commands during firefights a potentially deadly exercise. Everything has changed this time around, and the new system is effective, efficient, and more importantly, a breeze to use. The commands are almost all context sensitive, so all you have to do is point your reticle in a direction (or at an object) and hit the Y button to give the command. Pointing at at location will tell your team to advance, while moving the reticle over an object will bring up the possible command. You can order your men to man mounted turrets, attack vehicles, place charges, or even open doors and clear rooms, Rainbow Six-style. It's an extremely well designed system, allowing you to give commands on the fly, even when you're pinned down by enemy fire.